


The Foxhole Garden

by SugarLime



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Abuse, Drake Spear is a bad person, Healing, Idiots in Love, M/M, Minor Character Death, No One Is Okay, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Non-Graphic Violence, Off-screen Minor Character Death, Recovery, Secret Garden AU, Slow Burn, future tags and characters to be added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-07-27 14:03:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 19,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20047252
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SugarLime/pseuds/SugarLime
Summary: This work is absurdly far from complete but I will be posting chapters as I complete them and hopefully someone will stick around long enough for me to finish.@Stranglerfig you are responsible for this. Thank you so friggin much. This is the first chapter of my spin on the Secret Garden AU that has consumed StranglerFig and I's lives for the last few weeks. Mine is absurdly far from complete but I'll do my best to one day finish it. Please feel free to harass me about it here or on tumblr @ChocoloverforlifeShout out to The Secret Garden, an amazing book by Frances Hodgson Burnett. If you haven't read it, please give it a try. And All For The Game, by Nora Sakavic. If you haven't read it (how did you get here?) please do!





	1. There's No One Left

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all, just a warning that this is as graphic as the sexual abuse in this story will get, so if you're here for a Dark!Fic, only this chapter is relevant, and if you're here for the recovery and love, start on chapter two (for no explicit sexual violence) or chapter three (no graphic violence inflicted on my kids). I'll add info to each chapter as it's relevant. Please stay safe :)
> 
> If you notice a missing tag, PLEASE let me know so I can add it!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew is the adopted child of the Spear family. His mother is kind and his father is an important diplomat who's rarely at home. Drake is a shining example of everything bad, but Andrew has never known anything else. When forces move and Andrew ends up out of the Spear household will he finally get to heal, or will he learn that withered plants will never bloom?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all, just a warning that this is as graphic as the sexual abuse in this story will get, so if you're here for a Dark!Fic, only this chapter is relevant, and if you're here for the recovery and love, start on chapter two (for no explicit sexual violence) or chapter three (no graphic violence inflicted on my kids). I'll add info to each chapter as it's relevant. Please stay safe :)
> 
> If you notice a missing tag, PLEASE let me know so I can add it!

Andrew Minyard was a sallow, disagreeable boy. He may have been beautiful if his eyes weren’t quite so blank, and his pale straw hair didn’t lie so limply against his forehead. He was all sharp angles and dour expressions.

Andrew’s bitter ugliness was in sharp contrast to his brother, with broad shoulders and shaped hair that he spent hours doing every morning. Drake was everything Andrew wasn’t, and when the family went to parties or had guests over that much was made obvious. When people thought they had found a private corner that wasn’t really so private, or sometimes just in front of the younger boy, they would titter and gossip about Andrew. The whispers changed in words but never in tone, ‘_oh, that Andrew, he’s always such a little monster, but that brother of his, Drake, oh he’ll go on to do great things’_.

The not so well kept secret was that Andrew was an unofficially adopted member of the family. His mother loved him well enough, but everyone outside of the family seemed to think he was better seen and not heard. So Andrew would spend the days he wasn’t being shoved in to stuff clothes and made to sit still and ‘_look less angry_’ shut inside of his room for as long as he could. Of course, this habit always made him easy for Drake to catch.

It started with teasing, then blew up in to beating on his _unwanted_ little brother. Drake was smart enough to hit Andrew in the places his clothes would hide. He was smart enough to leave bruises and not scars. And then, while Drake was turning Andrew’s stomach purple with his fists, he had an even better idea than just hitting his brother.

After the first time Drake sexually abused his brother the beatings stopped for a while. Andrew thought that perhaps he had finally gotten bored of him. Andrew always tried to carefully keep his expression neutral through the torture, but the new abuse had broken him down in to sobbing and begging. He had learned before that those things never helped, but had been unable to stop himself.

What Andrew didn’t know was that Drake was afraid of the potential repercussions. He had backed off of Andrew to see if the boy would go and tell someone. But Andrew was too deeply bound in his own distrust and fear to say anything to anyone at that point. It was almost three weeks later that Drake found him in his room again, and after that Drake came to his room almost nightly.

Andrew took out his anger at the situation on the maids and butlers who kept the family home in order. He would scream and shout and threaten their lives if they tried to dress him in the morning. He had almost choked a maid who had suggested he spend more time with his brother ‘_perhaps his temperament would rub off on you_’. The house keepers took to staying away from him, whispering that he needed to be tamed or shipped off. They took to simply knocking at his door if they needed him to do something, and saying their commands from out of arms reach.

When Andrew was alone he turned his sharp words on himself. When his anger became so great that his words didn’t cut deeply enough, Andrew stole a sharp knife out of the kitchen one night and traced thin red cuts on to his arms and thighs. When Andrew was forced to leave his room he would cover them with long sleeves and pants. The night Drake found out about them he hit Andrew hard enough to make him puke. Andrew started to think he enjoyed the pain, and laughed softly as he emptied his dinner on to the bedroom floor.

There was only one maid in the house that Andrew could stand. A kitchen aid who was in charge of the earliest morning shift there was. She had been there one day at four in the morning when Andrew had come down. He was getting ice for the litter of bruising on his stomach after Drake had found out he was hurting himself. She was emptying a cutting board covered in chicken in to a large cookpot. They had both frozen, and the chicken spilled in to the pot with a splash. Andrew refused to back down and continued to the fridge, schooling his expression back to neutral disinterest. The maid watched him silently, but as he turned to leave she spoke.

“You shouldn’t use uncovered ice like that. Let me wrap it in a towel for you,” She said. Andrew paused and considered leaving, but reluctantly turned back and dropped the ice on to the prep table. She had wrapped them in a towel, then handed it back to Andrew without another word.

After that encounter Andrew started seeing the same maid almost every time he came down to lick his wounds in the early morning darkness. They never talked. Maybe she already knew what must have been going on, or maybe she knew he wouldn’t tell her if he asked. He eventually learned her name was Bee. He secretly thought it was a nice name, not that he’d tell her that.

Andrew didn’t go down to breakfast that morning. Usually a maid would come looking for him, demanding he eat, but that morning no one came. Andrew sulked, thinking bitter and angry thoughts about no one bothering to even remember him anymore. He stayed in his room and felt very sorry for himself and didn’t think much of the loud noises and shouting outside of his room. He didn’t think much of it when no one came to get him for lunch, and he continued to be angry and instead ate some of the snacks he had stored in his room.

The noises outside of his door continued in to the night, but Andrew didn’t think anything of it until Drake hadn’t shown up outside of his door a little past two in the morning. It was then that Andrew realized that the noise had finally stopped. Out of stubbornness and fear Andrew still refused to leave his room. He missed breakfast the next day and again the day after that. Still no one came for him. It was only once the storage of food in his room ran dry that he got desperate enough to leave his foxhole.

Every hall Andrew wandered down was empty. Not just devoid of people, which would have been strange enough, but the halls were actually bare. The ornate rugs, the valuable paintings, the Fabergé eggs and the solid oak tables they had rested on were all gone. Andrew wandered through the empty building, feeling very much like he was the only person left in the world.

The kitchen was at once familiar and alien. The walls and appliances were all exactly as Andrew knew them, but like the rest of the house it had been stripped nearly bare, and it was much brighter in the midday sun than Andrew was used to seeing it. Andrew was still standing in the door way staring at the strange sight when someone came in through the dining room entrance. For a moment he felt a lurch of irrational hope that it would be Bee, then his stomach plummeted as he realized it was more likely to be Drake. What he didn’t consider was that it would be someone completely unfamiliar to him.

The boy was half way back down the hall he had come from by the time Stuart caught up to him. He grabbed the boys arm, and nearly lost it from the violent reaction. The boy had a knife in his hand before Stuart could turn him around, and he had to let go hastily to avoid being stabbed. The child turned and ran again, and Stuart followed.

He had thought the boy was a urchin who was looking for any remaining valuables in the house, but the boy ran down the halls with a familiarity that a common thief couldn’t have. Stuart was even more surprised when the boy rain in to a bedroom, slamming the door behind him, instead of out of the house. He pounded on the wood, shouting at the boy to open up. He didn’t expect a response, but was even more surprised when he wiggled the handle and found the door unlocked.

The room looked untouched by the hands of the looters. Stuart looked over the wardrobe and desk, spotting the boy quickly as he pushed himself further back in the corner of the bed, glaring murder at Stuart.

“Who are you? Why are you in my house?” The boy asked in German, his nose high in the air and his voice filled with authority.

“I’m Stuart, I’m a detective with MI6, I’m here investigating the murd- wait, _your _house? Kid, this can’t be your house, the boy living here is dead, along with his parents, unless-” Stuart stopped talking then, the pieces finally clicking together. The family had been assassinated in a high profile international case a few days ago. The entire family had been reportedly killed and the servants had looted the house and left. There shouldn’t have been anyone living there. Except there had been some vague mentions of a second child from the interrogated friends of the family. Nothing concrete, and the police had assumed it had been some nephew who visited on occasion since most people only talked about the murdered boy, Drake. But here was the second son and the only living survivor of the Spear household.

“Dead?” Andrew echoed, sounding less shocked than he should have. He looked around his room for a moment, and when his eyes settled back on Stuart they were cold and blank, lacking the fear and anger that they had held before, “Just those three? Someone assassinated Richard then. And mom. And Drake”.

He sound almost excited as he finished listing out the members of his family. Stuart didn’t understand the boy, but it wasn’t his job to care about another orphaned kid in the system.

“Those three and one more,” he corrected, “there was a maid in the kitchen when the assassin snuck in. Sometime around three in the morning. The house keeper said she wasn’t scheduled to get there until four, so the assassin must have thought the kitchen would be empty. We still don’t know why she would come in an hour early for the graveyard shift. Her name was Betsy Dobson, did you know her?” Stuart asked.

Andrew couldn’t help the broken laugh that escaped him, and he didn’t try to stop as he broke in to hysterics. He laughed and laughed and cried in front of the strange detective standing in his doorway and thought about the four people he knew in the world and thought about how he’d never see them again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing my chapter titles on The Secret Garden's. Isn't that such a dark title? Then again, I darkened up the dark start to the original story so I hope I've earned it. Don't worry, thing's Technically start getting better from here (but not yet really)
> 
> If you notice a missing tag, PLEASE let me know so I can add it!


	2. A Monster

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At least things can't possibly get any wor-
> 
> Andrew is taken to his only living relative's, Aunt Tilda. There he meets his identical twin brother Aaron and learns that literally everyone is bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for non graphic descriptions of violence, and attempted sexual assault.  
Warning for (cannon compliant) minor character death  
Everything is bad. Aaron is sad. Better not make Tilda mad.

The death of the Spears taught Andrew several things. The first was that his given name was Andrew Minyard. The second was that he had surviving blood relatives; in fact he had a brother, an identical twin to himself named Aaron. The third was that there wasn’t anyone worth trusting alive in the world.

Aunt Tilda was a sour faced woman. From the moment she was saddled with Andrew she made her displeasure clear in no uncertain terms. Aaron was the only son she wanted or needed, and she told Higgens as much when she met him to talk about being Andrew’s only living blood relative. She told him at least ten more times before the paperwork was settled to add him to the family, and an uncountable number of times since.

Andrew didn’t particularly care. Since the day he had laughed manically in his room in a mansion surrounded by death he hadn’t made another genuine facial expression. He greeted his aunt and his brother by walking straight past them in to the house.

“Which room is mine?” he asked without turning to face the two gaping in the doorway.

“Upstairs, in the second room on the right,” Tilda answered, “but Andrew, wait, you need to properly greet us. We _are_ the ones letting you in to our home”.

Andrew was already on the second floor by the time she began scolding him, and he was in his room before she was done talking. His haste to get to his room meant his missed Tilda’s displeased frown, and the silent quake that rocked Aaron’s thin frame.

Andrew kept to his room. He left to eat at odd hours, and sometimes he would escape in to the large back yard of the house and stay out there for hours under the shade of the tall oak in the yard. With each day that passed Aunt Tilda became more irate, and Andrew liked the house less. He could feel the same sort of wrongness from her as he had felt from Drake, but he didn’t understand why. She had never hit him or even touched him, so he decided not to pursue the unease. His aloof detachment was torn apart one afternoon under the boughs of the large oak tree he was kneeling under.

“What are you doing?” A voice asked behind Andrew. He turned slightly, recognized Aaron, and turned away. Aaron disoriented him. It was like looking in to a fun house mirror every time he looked at his twin, like every detail had been copied but the image was somehow still wrong. Aaron was only slightly healthier looking than his brother, with guarded eyes and ghostly pale skin. Andrew didn’t understand how someone who had it so much better than him could look so sick.

After a few moments of silence Aaron tried again, “is that a garden? You should move the red flowers so they’re closer to the purple ones”.

Andrew considered the garden, then hesitantly switched the flowers. They did look better.

“The red ones are marigolds, and the purple ones are cockleshells,” he responded, leaning back to look at the small garden of picked flowers he had set up under the tree’s branches.

Aaron made a noise of acknowledgement, “you should stop avoiding Aunt Tilda,” he said next, and Andrew caught the waver in his voice.

“Why do you care?” He asked, still not turning to look at his double.

“She’s mad because you’re so contrary,” Aaron says instead of answering his question.

“Does she hit you?” Andrew asks next, because he has never had any use for tact or delicateness. Aaron leaves quickly and doesn’t talk to Andrew again. And all at once Andrew understands why he had disliked his aunt so much since he had first met her. As he crushed the flower petals one by one and covers them with dirt he wonders if she touches Aaron the way Drake did him.

It’s several weeks later that _it_ happens.

Despite his attitude Andrew had been listening to Aaron that day under the tree. He had started eating with the others, and had begun silently sitting in the living room when everyone else was. Aunt Tilda said he acted like a doll, and told him not to be so miserable and awful. Andrew ignored her.

It was at breakfast one day. Aaron hadn’t come down yet, and Andrew would later learn that he had accidently overslept. But he sat at the table with Tilda and ate silently.

“Aaron, you’re coming to the store with me,” Tilda said, not looking up from the morning paper. Andrew stiffened, unsure of how to respond. Should he tell her that she had made a mistake? Would that get Aaron in to trouble for not being at the table? Would she hit him? Andrew didn’t know the answers, so he nodded silently.

The two left the house without Aaron waking up. Andrew wasn’t sure whether to be happy or angry that Tilda hadn’t noticed the difference. They got in the car together, and when Andrew moved to get in the back seat Tilda gave him an odd look.

“That piece of garbage boy isn’t with us today Aaron, get in the front like usual,” Tilda said. Andrew didn’t understand what was happening. Aaron always got in the back when the three of them rode together. He quickly moved to the front seat so as not to raise suspicion. As soon as his seat belt was on Aunt Tilda was hitting him.

“Aaron you stupid boy, has it been so long that you’ve forgotten your place with me?” she asked as she hit him. Andrew felt the certainty of his assumptions cement somewhere deep in his stomach.

“I’m sorry,” He managed to mumble. Her wild hits were weak compared to Drake’s.

After a minute she stopped and continued like nothing had happened. Andrew thought it was over, but as Tilda drove she hit and pinched the boy again and again. Andrew realized that abusers had a thing about hurting you where others wouldn’t see any marks. They got to the store and did their shopping without incident. When there were other people around Tilda would keep her hits contained to pinches and hard pokes. Andrew stayed silent throughout the entire trip, only mumbling or muttering when Tilda asked him something, and she never seemed interested in his answers.

It was on the way back that everything went wrong. They were driving on a country road not far from home. Aunt Tilda hadn’t hit him for a few minutes since she was busy ranting about how awful Andrew was.

Andrew felt the air change as Tilda went eerily quiet. She kept her eyes on the road and Andrew went deathly still in the seat next to her. Then he felt her hand on his thigh. Traveling up his thigh. Touching him the same way that Drake had touched him- no, touching Aaron that way. Andrew saw red.

The struggle for the steering wheel was a sad thing. Aunt Tilda didn’t expect the feral shout that Andrew let out, and as she jumped at the sound Andrew grabbed the wheel with both hands, pushing it to the left as hard as she could. Tilda was in the middle of shouting something when the car rammed in to one of the massive oak trees lining the road. Andrew wasn’t sure how he managed to stumble out of the wreckage of the car, blood staining his eyes. He looked at the crumpled car and the crushed right side. Tilda was bloody and still in the driver’s seat. The car looked like a crumpled up flower under the boughs of a large tree. Andrew huffed out a laugh and kicked dirt as the car as he swooned by the side of the wreck. He was still laughing when the ambulances got there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really hope I get the chance to develop Andrew and Aaron's relationship more in this story. 
> 
> If I missed tags PLEASE let me know!


	3. Across the Moor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew Arrives at Evermore Manor and immediately antagonizes everyone he can. And what's all this about the secret love child of Tetsuji and Wymack being hidden away somewhere in the house? (Okay the love child part is made up)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thing's are finally going to start being less The Worst.  
Aside from sadness and emotional constipation I don't think there are any warnings that need to be on this chapter :D

Evermore Manor sat squat on the dusky horizon like a fat black cat. Andrew thought that everything seemed to be sagging in to the moor that the manor was built on. A woman who said her name was Abby had come to the station to pick up the two boys. They had been quickly dumped on the desolate old mansion when a ‘friend’ of Andrew’s father had offered to take them in. Andrew harbored a secret suspicion that Tetsuji Moriyama was as likely to have killed his family as he was to have been friends with them, but he kept the observation to himself.

Abby had started the ride back to the manor with gentle and safe conversation, but as she continued being stonewalled by the twins the whole way she eventually fell silent. The boys were both sad things. One had lost his parents in a gruesome murder, and the other had lost his mother and almost lost his brother in one car crash. She nodded to herself, silently deciding to give the boys time to mourn. Her decision didn’t make the awkward ride any easier for her, and she was almost relieved when they took the turn in to the manor’s long drive.

“There are three boys here besides you two,” Abby told them as the two removed their small bags, she paused for a minute like she had made some mistake, then hurried on to cover for it, “Kevin and Riko are the two main sons here. Be sure to listen to them, especially Riko”.

Andrew wanted to ask who the third boy was, but refused to speak to the woman. A similar conflict flashed in Aaron’s eyes. After a tense moment she sighed in relief and ushered them inside.

The twins were shown to two separate rooms. Aaron had expressed his refusal to room with Andrew in no uncertain terms. Andrew didn’t mind, still uncomfortable with the thought of someone else being in his room while he slept.

As soon as he could get the door closed around Abby’s nonstop commentary on the history of the manor he shut and locked it. The click of the heavy deadbolt was a satisfying noise, and Andrew slumped against the heavy oak once he was alone.

He stayed still against the door for a long time, not bothering to unpack his small bag. He was sure a servant would come and sort everything away soon. The room itself wasn’t much to look at. Whoever had decorated it had clearly meant for it to serve as a guest room, not a child’s room. The walls were cold stone, and the bed was a twin frame that had been shoved in to one corner. There was a set of drawers and a chair in opposite corners from each other. Andrew took everything in without feeling anything about it. It didn’t matter that his familiar room was gone, or that Aaron’s room wasn’t even in the same hall as his own. It didn’t matter that Bee was dead or that Aunt Tilda had been as bad as everyone else, or that Abby’s eyes had kept flicking over Andrew like he was some puzzle she could solve. Andrew didn’t need anyone else. He didn’t feel anything about any of that he repeated to himself again. He was fine.

Morning brought a seeping sort of cold with it that set Andrew on edge. The Spear’s mansion had been a well-attended home in a warm climate, where there were more mosquitoes than there was snow on any given day. Aunt Tilda’s home had been in a more temperate place, but the season had just been tilting towards fall then. Evermore was an old home, more stone than wood. The halls had drafts that sometimes fell more in the category of _breezes_. Andrew’s overstuffed duvet and lumpy pillows did little to stave off late autumn of the moor, and Andrew’s body ached.

A sudden sound made him jump. Moaning echoed through the halls, and Andrew crept to the door to investigate. He caught the eyes of a surprised looking maid as she walked nearby.

“Who’s making that noise?” He asked, trying not to stare at the large silver cross dangling across her neck. It looked expensive.

“What noise?” the girl listened for a moment before realization lit her face, “oh, that’s not a person. The wind in the halls sometimes sounds like that. It’s nothing to worry about, but it can be surprising the first time you hear it”.

Andrew nodded and closed the door without another word. A second later there was a knock. Andrew opened the door again to see the same girl smiling softly at him.

“You must be Andrew. I was actually just looking for you. I’m supposed to invite you down to breakfast. The house can be confusing if you’re not familiar with it,” She said as Andrew stared at her.

“Why didn’t you say that before?” he replied, toeing his shoes on and following her in to the hall.

He paid close attention to the path they took, ignoring the maid in favor of remembering the route so he could ferret food out of the kitchen later. She talked breezily about the weather and the moor as they went, but didn’t seem bothered that Andrew didn’t respond. They stopped at the entrance to a large dining room with a long table and dozens of chairs.

The maid, Renee she had called herself, smiled at him and left. Andrew walked in to the quiet room with his back straightened and his hackles raised. The room was nearly empty despite its absurd possible capacity. At the very head of the table sat a withered but stately Japanese man who Andrew vaguely recognized as Tetsuji. On his right side there was a miniature version of him who held himself with a confidence that oozed pretention. Andrew assumed that was Riko, the favored son. On his left there was a strikingly handsome boy that looked more Thai than Japanese. He clearly wasn’t directly related to Tetsuji, but Andrew had never cared about blood when it came to who someone’s family was. This boy must be Kevin. There was a subtle tension to his shoulders that said he was trying a little too hard to look relaxed. Aaron sat next to Kevin, staring down at the table and looking immensely uncomfortable.

Andrew took his time walking through the absurdly large room, his expression casual but his eyes sharp. They were clearly waiting for him to begin eating. He ignored the loud scraping noise the chair made as he took his seat next to Riko. He was sure he saw Kevin flinch as he scooted the chair back in.

“Andrew, we’ve been waiting for you. Breakfast is at eight every morning. We all eat together each day,” Tetsuji said, his tone final. He picked up his utensils and after a pause Kevin and Riko rushed to follow.

“So we’re still waiting?” Andrew said, not moving to start his food like the others once the servants had placed their food.

Tetsuji paused with his spoon half way to his mouth, “excuse me?” there was a hint of frustrated impatience in his tone, like Andrew was stupid.

“Aaron, Kevin, Riko, me,” Andrew said, pointing to each person as he listed them out like he was explaining something to a child. He hid his smirk when Riko balked at being listed last. “So where’s this mysterious fifth kid?” He finished. Andrew could have sworn the drafty room dropped a few more degrees in the seconds it took for the three others to catch up to what he had just said.

Kevin was the first to recover, flinching like he had been hit but otherwise keeping himself small and still. Andrew hid a scowl at how obvious his abuse was in the boy’s body. Riko was quick to shout when he realized just who Andrew was talking about. He spluttered then yelled, raising half out of his seat. His hand was half raised for a strike before an outstretched hand from Tetsuji stilled him. Riko sat quickly, flushed with anger.

“Andrew I’m not sure who has already been spreading rumors under my roof, but I ask you to understand that this is no longer a household under your command. If you persist in harassing my family there will be no place for you or your brother here,” the threat was clear and sharp: ‘don’t fuck with me or mine’. Andrew made a mental note of just how dangerous Tetsuji was proving himself to be.

The rest of breakfast passed in cold silence. Tetsuji and Aaron didn’t look up from their meals again. Riko split his time between glaring at Andrew and Kevin and trying to convey violence through angry jabs at his oatmeal. Kevin kept passing guilty glances to the wall behind Andrew’s head. The food was fine, but Bee’s was- had been- better. When they finished eating, which was an ordeal that didn’t truly finish until Tetsuji put his napkin back on the table and stood, Andrew tried to escape back to his room. He was stopped by a cold voice.

“Young Andrew, you will not be returning to your room today. While you would usually have free reign of the manor, your earlier outburst is reason for concern. Each day after breakfast you spend your time outdoors until late afternoon. When you are inside you will spend your time in your room or in the dining area. I will not have you disrespecting our privacy,” Tetsuji said. When he was done speaking he walked past the others and out of the door first, clearly expecting his orders to be absolute.

Andrew wanted to tell the Moriyama bastard just where he could stick his rules and his shitty manor, but chose instead to keep his indifference and simply left to get his jacket. He caught the conflict on Aaron’s face as he left and felt a surprising pang of emotion at the thought that his twin still cared even a little. Kevin, who didn’t have the same distaste for Andrew that most people acquired, jogged to catch up to him in the hall.

“Hey, what you did at breakfast was absurdly stupid,” were the first words Kevin Day spoke to him. Andrew had to work hard to contain his eye roll.

“Thanks but I don’t give a single fuck,” Andrew replied, not slowing.

“You should be more… aware of how you speak to them,” Kevin said.

_Interesting, it’s ‘them’ and not ‘us’_, Andrew thought. He didn’t reply.

“If you’re going outside I could go with you. I have this game I made where you have a ball and a-“

“Listen. I don’t care. I am not going to play sports with you and I am not going to listen to you. The sooner you stop pissing me off the sooner I can follow your master’s orders and fuck off,” Andrew finished by firmly closing his door in Kevin’s stunned face. So much for making friends.

The moor was a cold and dreary thing. Andrew’s coat barely seemed to slow the wind before it was biting through his body. He felt tears spring to his eyes in the strong wind and blinked them back furiously. Like some dumb cold air was going to make him cry. The grounds were boring paths of gravel lined with empty dirt and stone walls. Ivy clung to the walls in patchy clumps and bare trees peaked over everything to add a nice hue of brown to the already dull grey sky. Andrew decided he did not like getting kicked outside.

The grounds were large, and Andrew thought he could wander through them for forever without meeting another person. The first day of his exile from the manor he did just that, and continued to do so for several more days. His outburst at Kevin had seemed to dissuade the boy and Aaron was still religiously avoiding him. The only time Andrew saw the other residents was each day at breakfast, and they all sat through it in complete silence. It was almost a week after Andrew had arrived at the mansion that time seemed to start moving again.

Night at the manor was an inky black affair. Andrew had slowly gotten used to the moaning wind and croaking frogs, but another sound woke him up late at night. Andrew laid in his bed and listened to the screams that couldn’t be confused for wind for a long time before he decided to get up and follow them. He pulled on his coat and slipped on shoes before he snuck out of his room. He was halfway down the hallway of his third blind turn when the screams stopped. Andrew stood still and listened for a while longer, but no other sounds were forthcoming. Feeling something like unease Andrew returned to his room, but he couldn’t sleep for the rest of the night.

That morning Renee came in to his room to fix his bed and straighten up. She looked surprised to see him, but there was no displeasure in her expression.

“You’re usually dressed by now,” she pointed out. The two had been studiously ignoring each other in the mornings, and Andrew usually left soon after she came in. After the strange night, he wasn’t even out of bed yet.

“What was that noise last night?” Andrew replied.

“The frogs? Or the wind?” Renee tilted her head, considering the disbelief in his eyes. He knew that she knew what he was really asking about. After a moment of silence she gave him a sad smile, “Andrew, you asked a question at breakfast a few days ago and it got you kicked out of the house for half of every day. I don’t want you to be kicked out for forever. I like you,” she said.

Andrew opened his mouth to ask more questions, but closed it, then again to argue with her, but closed it again, after a moment of deep silence he replied, “I won’t force you to answer, but I’m not going to ignore him. And. Don’t say you like me, you don’t even know me,” He settled on. She gave him that sad smile again but didn’t respond. He dressed quickly and headed to the dining hall, unable to shake the feeling that someone was screaming in terrible pain just out of earshot of him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Renee help him please. Why is everyone so sneakretive in this house. Also, if you've read Where You Tend A Rose, Stranglerfig's take on the Secret Garden AU, then I want to make the distinction that my fic won't have exy in it. Sorry if anyone was hoping for it, but this story will be more Secret Garden compliant in terms of the setting. And if you havent read WYTAR, GO READ IT OMG
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/20044765


	4. The Garden, the Gardener, and the Boy from the Moor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew meets like, two new people, which is way too many for him at this point in time. Aka the chapter where I start throwing foxes at the plot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't fit in the chapter title from The Secret Garden as the title for this chapter and was very sad about it. Originally this chapter was going to be a little shorter, but I've shoehorned in what I have of chapter 5 ready, so hopefully it still flows okay. 
> 
> Also, I'd like to let anyone who finds this grammatically atrocious that this story is totally unbeta'd, but I'm hoping to finish this rough draft and then polish it up once I get the story posted in this rough form. I have a ton of difficulty with self-motivation, so if I don't post it as I go I'm afraid I never will. That said, if you hate it now, come back in a year or so and it may be an entirely different beast;;

Andrew didn’t bother to talk at breakfast, but judging by Riko’s furtive glances the boy clearly wanted him to put his foot in it. As they finished their food without incident Andrew took smug solace in the disappointed slump of Riko’s shoulders.

In the time Andrew had spent wandering listlessly on the grounds he had found a few spots of interest. The first was the low wall that surrounded the entire property. Andrew had contemplated hopping the fence a few times but didn’t have anywhere to go. The second was a small foxhole. The first time Andrew had walked by it he had assumed it was abandoned, but a few days later he saw a slip of orange disappearing in to the hole. The third thing he hadn’t really found, not yet. It was a walled off portion of the grounds with no apparent way in. He had slowly been mapping the grounds in his head, but this particular square of space had remained a neat blank in his mind. At first he had ignored it, not particularly caring about another dead corner of garden. Then he had found his feet walking him past it again. And again. By the time he had fully explored a quarter of the grounds he would spend an extra fifteen minutes on the walk back going out of his way to pass by the blocked off plot. It was on his way by in the morning one day that he met the gardener.

* * *

Andrew was passing by the garden of Amontillado for the umpteenth time when he heard shoveling from the far wall. Idly wondering if it was the fox he had seen before Andrew walked towards the sound, pulling up short at the sight of another person outside in the chilly autumn air. More specifically another person who was wearing short sleeves and a large hat like it wasn’t close to snowing. And the short sleeves revealed the dark ink of flame tattoos covering the man’s muscular arms as he dug in the frosted ground.

“What the fuck?” Andrew said without thinking.

The gardener stopped and looked up at Andrew for a minute, “what the fuck?” he replied. “Who are you? Are you with that city brat?”

“What? Who? I fucking live here. Who are you?” Andrew usually wouldn’t have been so open with information but he was still half convinced that the man was a hallucination brought on by the cold.

“Live here? Oh, you must be one of the twin kids. Names Wymack, I’m the gardener here. If you see the city brat tell him to keep away from my turnips or I’ll skin him,” Wymack turned back to the dirt he was digging in after that, clearly done with the conversation now that he had established who Andrew was.

Andrew was very much not done, “what the fuck does that even mean? Is this city brat the third kid no one will talk about? Since when has there been a gardener here? And why the hell are you dressed like it’s summer?” He didn’t care that he was being too questioning, he was sick of people ignoring him or giving him half answers.

Wymack didn’t look up again, but just as Andrew started to seriously consider punching him he spoke. “The city brat is that jackass Nicky who won’t keep his paws out of my garden. I’m the gardener here and I’m here every weekday, but this place is nearly as big as the Moriyama family ego so it’s no surprise I haven’t seen you. And I’m dressed like this because I’m not some out of town floozy who’s never seen snow before,” His voice didn’t lose any of the gruffness, but he answered Andrew’s questions, which was more than anyone else had done.

“And the mysterious third kid no one will talk about? Andrew asked. This might be his only chance to get real answers.

“Listen twin number one, you ought to be worrying more about yourself than him. But you’re not gonna listen to me are ya? Well I’m not about to help you get yourself killed for nothing in return. I’ll tell you what, go get that city kid and convince him to stop messing with my garden and I’ll tell you something about your mystery boy.”

Of course getting answers wouldn’t get easy, and honestly Andrew had expected them to be harder to find, but this little deal didn’t stop him from muttering something rude in German as he walked away. He walked half the length of the grounds before he realized he had no idea who Whymack was talking about.

* * *

It seemed like Andrew hadn’t seen anyone in weeks until he met Wymack but suddenly he couldn’t _stop_ meeting people. He had been walking down another lifeless pathway when he’d noticed a boy hanging from a tree. After the icy fear that he’d discovered a body had passed Andrew realized that the kid literally had his knees hooked over a branch and was dangling down off of the tree to reach another, much smaller branch. He finished fiddling with the thin branch and pulled himself upright again, and suddenly Andrew was looking in to the sparkling brown eyes of a flushed and sweaty boy about his age. His skin was tanned a natural dark that deepened a few shades further on his shoulders and cheeks from days spent in the sun.

“Oh, hey,” the boy said casually, his hands finding strong branches as he easily lowered himself down from the tree.

Andrew’s mind drew a neat blank as he tried to process the fact that there was a kid in a tree who was talking to him casually and _why was he in a tree_? “Why were you in that tree,” he finally managed when the boy was down and standing less than a foot away from him.

“Nice to meet you too,” the boy responded dryly, “I was in that tree because the bird in that nest has a broken foot. So I was checking up on him. He’s all good though so there’s no need to look so constipated. I’m Nicky by the way. And before you ask, yes, I am available.” He finished with a wink and finger guns.

“This is the worst conversation I’ve ever had,” Andrew deadpanned, and he turned to leave.

“Wait wait, aren’t you curious about me? The mysterious boy from the heavens? Am I an angel sent to judge mankind? A devil sent to seduce you? A mirage of a beautiful man created by your desperate mind?” when Nicky’s dramatics didn’t earn him a response he stomped his foot, “Don’t you even want to know if I’m from the house?” And for some reason that did catch Andrew’s attention. He stopped walking and turned his head slightly, looking at Nicky out of the corner of his eye.

“Are you? That third kid no one will talk about?” Andrew asked. Nicky stopped fake pouting and he suddenly looked uncomfortable.

“What? Uh, no. I thought you’d ask if I worked there or something. I’m not… I’m not him.” He finished quietly, suddenly wanting to look anywhere but at Andrew. Andrew stared at him, debating between ignoring the whole secret thing kid and beating the information out of someone. When Nicky spoke again his tone was different, “I don’t by the way. Work here, I mean. Kevin’s just among a select few people in this backwards town that don’t hate Erik and I for being gay. So I visit here when I can, just to say hi.” His voice was soft.

“Yea, I don’t think anyone here should be treated as a moral compass. Who fucking cares if you’re gay?” Andrew said, “but don’t every fucking flirt with me again or I’ll break your face,” he added when an image of Drake came to his mind unbidden.

Nicky nodded, and before Andrew could make a proper retreat Nicky was next to him, insisting that they go to visit Kevin together.

* * *

They found Kevin in an ornate looking study sitting next to Renee on a wide bench. He had his feet drawn up to his chin and his hands folded in to his lap. Renee looked worried, but still smiled softly at Nicky and Andrew as they approached.

“Hey Kevin, hey Renee, what’s up?” Nicky chirped, but Renee shook her head and Nicky’s face twisted in to concern, “Kevin?” He said softly.

Kevin didn’t respond, but he suddenly sifted, leaning over a nearby trash can that Andrew hadn’t noticed before. He retched in to it for a few minutes before turning to the two new arrivals. He narrowed his eyes as he noticed Andrew.

“Oh cool, Aaron’s hear. Didn’t I tell you to fucking go away?” Kevin slurred, and Andrew realized he was drunk.

“Oh, no, Kevin this is Andrew. I just net him outside and I brought him here. I didn’t know you were having a bad day,” Nicky picked up on Kevin’s slack easily, like he was used to it. Used to this.

“Sorry Nicky, Aaron is Andrew’s twin, and Kevin kind of threw a paperweight at him last time he came in here. He made some rude comments and...” Renee trailed off, her attention back on Kevin as she helped him crawl back on to the bench.

“Was it bad least night?” Nicky asked.

“Yea, Riko was pretty pissed off. I think he’s mad about Andrew and Aaron,” Renee said, “sorry,” she added offhandedly to Andrew.

Kevin had pulled a handle of rum out from behind Renee and was sloppily unscrewing the cap. Nicky caught his arms and held him still as Renee took the bottle away from him and set it aside.

“Fuck off Walker,” Kevin whined.

“Stop it Kevin, you’ve had enough”.

“No, I still rem’br it,” Kevin argued, and Nicky shared a look with Renee as Kevin broke down in tears between them.

Andrew felt like he had walked in on something he shouldn’t have, but couldn’t tear himself away from the boy breaking down in front of him. Nicky and Renee seemed like they had dealt with this before and Andrew wondered just how often Kevin had nights like this, and just what else was going on behind closed doors in this house.

Nick took a deep breath, pulling Andrew back to the present to watch as he squared his shoulders and glanced at Renee before turning back to Kevin. Hesitantly, he asked, "want to go to Eden's tonight?" Andrew caught the first glance of what could have been exasperation on Renee's face even as Kevin nodded beside her, rubbing his hand across his face and smearing tears and snot across it.  
  
"Nicky, that place..." Renee trailed off. Was dangerous? Unhealthy? Andrew couldn't fill in the silence perfectly but he could tell it wasn’t good. Would going out even be healthy for Kevin right now?  
  
"Renee I know. But it's be better there than here for him. Besides, Riko's still on the war path right?" Nicky said. Renee nodded, her expression going carefully neutral at the mention of Riko.   
  
Nicky turned to Andrew, addressing him for the first time since they'd found Kevin, "of course you're invited too. And Aaron. I don't want to leave anyone I can smuggle out behind tonight. Eden's a small place in town where you can get pretty nicely fucked up if you know the right people. And I know the right people."   
  
Andrew shrugged in response. He didn't have a better way to spend his time. Renee went to find Aaron and Andrew was surprised when she returned with his twin in tow. The four boys set off and Renee told Nicky she'd try to 'minimize the damage' Riko caused. Andrew hated that he was sure she was somehow referring to that mysterious third kid again.   
  
The four put on their coats and followed Nicky out on to the moor. He insisted it wasn’t a long walk, but once they had gone far enough out that turning back would be an ordeal he mentioned that they might be better off staying at his place after they were finished that night. Andrew tried not to roll his eyes.  
  
Aaron was sullen and silent the entire trek, and avoided every attempt Andrew made at so much as eye contact. After a few attempts Andrew gave up trying, instead focusing on watching Nicky all but carry Kevin's stumbling form. It would have been funny in other circumstances, but Andrew wanted to know what made Kevin so upset that he'd started needing to rely on alcohol to erase it. Maybe a few more drinks would convince him to tell Andrew what was going on.

They walked for almost an hour before they stopped on the outskirts of town. Nicky pulled Kevin into a small restaurant and Aaron and Andrew followed. It definitely wasn’t Eden, but none of the boys had eaten yet and Andrew was glad for the chance to get food. When he saw the glances Nicky gave the waitress and the handfuls of crackers he grabbed form the front as they went to sit, Andrew realized that they were there for something other than food.

* * *

The boys did eat, which Andrew was glad for; and despite Nicky’s subtlety, Andrew noticed that the boys also got several dozen flat white packets slipped in with the stack of napkins Nicky asked for when their sandwiches arrived. Nicky didn’t say anything about the drugs, but he caught Andrew staring at him and visibly swallowed.

“See something you like?” He deflected, trying not to make it obvious that he wouldn’t meet Andrew’s eyes.

“Something that’s caught my interest at least,” Andrew shot back. Nicky laughed nervously and Andrew would have been happy to continue pretending like they weren’t talking about mystery drugs, but he caught Aaron’s offended stare and dropped the topic.

The boys finished and left money on the table, and Nicky promised that Eden’s was only another fifteen minutes away. Kevin looked like he was about to start crying and mumbled about having to walk more.

Eden’s was a two story brick building that looked like it had been in the same spot since before the town had arrived and people had just built around it. The outside was seedy and the people waiting outside or slumped drunkenly against the brick looked seedier still.

“Charming,” Aaron muttered.

Nicky led them up to the bouncer who grinned wolfishly when he saw Nicky and asked if he was ‘back for more’. Nicky eyed the man lewdly and said something about not being able to stay away. Andrew actually rolled his eyes as they were allowed inside.

“Welcome,” Nicky said with as dramatic a flourish as he could manage without dropping Kevin, “to Eden’s Twilight”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've decided to try to post updates on Tuesdays, and as you can tell by this going up on a Thursday, I'm already doing great with that :)


	5. Eden's Twilight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew takes some drugs that might help distract him. And he meets someone who might do it faster. But thing's don't often work out like you hope they might.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings for panic attacks, ptsd, and flash backs to non-con. Nothing graphic happens but there are a lot of nature and dark themes in this one. Also, it's 4:29 on Wednesday and I say that counts as a Tuesday upload. I have to be up in three hours. This is StranglerFig's fault for holding me to any standard of accountability. Rude.
> 
> Also I apologize for any ooc-ness here. I'm dealing with a lot of emotions and events that aren't detailed in AFTG, so I'm trying to write it within those bounds but still how I want;;;

Eden’s Twilight was dark, and a smoky haze seemed to hang in the air and mix with the overly loud music and glowing neon lights. Andrew felt his shoulders tense, but Nicky weaved through the crowd easily and led the group towards the bar. The Andrew and Nicky managed to squeeze to the front of the counter and the bartender headed towards them as soon as he saw Nicky.

The bartender was tall, with jet black hair and dark tanned skin; he looked Indian to Andrew, but he couldn’t tell from where. He was handsome and his dark brown eyes caught the light and sparkled like kaleidoscopes. Andrew was suddenly grateful for the low lighting as he felt a flush creep up the back of his neck. He scowled, angry at himself for thinking some minimum wage bartender was worth his time, and the man caught his expression.

“Wow, this one looks happy to be here,” he said to Nicky, then turned to Andrew, “if he brought you here against your will, blink twice.”

“Ha ha Roland. Shut up, Andrew is not a date and he is also almost definitely capable of kicking my ass himself if he wanted to. Besides, I’m babysitting Kevin tonight, so I don’t get to chase tail tonight,” Nicky answered, brandishing Kevin at his side.

Roland made a sympathetic noise and started pouring generous shots of fireball for the boys, “well, Andrew, if you end up desperate to escape the babysitters club, I get off early tonight.” He put the wealth of shots on a tray and handed them to Andrew with a wink.

The boys found a tall table that looked abandoned and put their drinks down on the alcohol sticky surface. Nicky glanced around the room while Kevin began working on the shots closest to him. Aaron found a stool and slumped over the table, closing his eyes and idly tipping back a few shots. When Nicky had finished surveying their surroundings he pulled out the stack of napkins he had grabbed at the restaurant and shook a handful of white packets out of them.

“Cracker dust,” Nicky explained when he caught Andrew’s eye, “it’s nothing hardcore, but it’ll fuck up your evening nicely.”

Andrew matched the way Nicky upended the packet into his mouth and chased the powder with a shot. He was really done trying to puzzle out Evermore right now, and drugs seemed like an easy out from thinking for a while.

It only took a few minutes for the first packet to kick in, and a few packets for Andrew to start feeling pleasantly numb. Between the four the tray of liquor was finished quickly, with Kevin clearing out about half of the shots. Nicky was talking animatedly, but Andrew found it easier and easier to ignore him as the room started to spin pleasantly. He thought that Aaron left at one point, and realized he must have gotten more drinks as several tall glasses of mixed drinks were placed on the table.

“Hey there.” A deep voiced in Andrew’s ear made him jump a little. Reflexively he raised his arm, connecting his knuckles with a soft cheek before he managed to take in who was talking to him. Roland was leaning away, covering his face and laughing. Andrew was sure it would bruise.

“Okay, I deserved that,” Roland said while Nicky howled with laughter somewhere behind Andrew’s head. “Sorry if I caught you off guard. I just got off my shift, and I wanted to check on you,” he said, and Andrew ignored the kissy noises Nicky was making.

“I’m all good. Why are you checking on me?” Andrew said, watching as Roland moved his hand away from his cheek. His jawline could probably cut stone. And his cheek was definitely bruising.

“Why thank you,” Roland said, smirking. Andrew realized he had spoken out loud. He was starting to regret the cracker dust.

“And I’m checking on you,” Roland continued, “because I am flirting with you and definitely am not passing up on a chance to try make out with you.”

“Oh,” Andrew said smartly. He thought he heard Aaron mutter something sarcastic under his breath, but couldn’t hear it over Nicky’s wolf whistle.

“So, you want to slip the supervisors and go somewhere quieter? The second floor bathroom is usually pretty empty,” Roland asked, taking a second to glare at Nicky as he continued to heckle him.

Andrew glanced back at the others for a minute and Nicky grinned at him, “go on, if you want. Roland is cool. If you end up going home with him we’ll just head to my place without you. I pointed it out on the way in to town, think you could find it on your own?” Nicky asked. Andrew nodded, and stood, shrugging. Roland led him upstairs.

* * *

The second floor bathroom really was empty, and Roland sighed as they door closed behind them and muffled the noise of the lounge.

“First thing’s first, are you actually sober enough to consent right now?” Roland asked him, turning to face Andrew.

Andrew took a second to gauge his own sobriety. He was definitely fucked up, but he felt like he could still make decisions. Besides, Roland was attractive and Andrew had a lot of pent up emotions that he was very pointedly ignoring. Kissing some stranger would let off some much needed steam. He nodded and moved towards Roland, the alcohol making him aggressive and the dust making him bold.

“You’re too stupid to trick me in to this shit,” he heard himself muttering as he grabbed Roland’s neck and pulled the other man down to meet his lips.

Roland tasted like whiskey. His mouth was hot and Andrew couldn’t figure out what to do with his tongue. He found himself licking in to Roland’s mouth on impulse and was surprised when Roland’s mouth opened, licking back at him. The kiss was sloppy, and Andrew found himself glancing at the wall behind them after a few moments. His head was buzzing with adrenaline, but his mind stayed firmly rooted as they made out like teenagers.

They broke apart after a few moments and they were both gasping. Roland smiled at him, “holy shit, you kiss like you punch,” he said, his eyes wide. Andrew wasn’t sure if that was a compliment.

They kissed more. Eventually Andrew fell in to the groove of easy kissing and let his mind fog with the pleasantness of kissing. He took the lead, and slapped Roland’s hands back down to his sides each time they tried to reach up to grab some part of him. He didn’t want to be tangled together if someone walked in. As they went Roland got bolder, trying to grope Andrew through his pants and press against him. Andrew pushed him away again.

“You’re so impatient,” he growled, his tongue heavy and his lips swollen.

“You’re moving so slow. Tease,” Roland winked at Andrew. Andrew felt his stomach drop a little at the pet name. He didn’t like it.

“Want to go back to my place? We can take out time there,” Roland asked, running a hand through his hair and leaning back to catch his breath.

Andrew nodded. That made sense, clearly he was just uncomfortable with how fast Roland was moving. He wasn’t some cheap bar whore who’d give out in a bathroom stall. They made their way downstairs through the fire exit and stumbled down the back side of the building, crossing empty back streets to get to Roland’s apartment. Andrew tried hard to focus on where they were going so he could get back later. He was glad the trip was short.

When they got to the apartment Roland had to fumble with the keys, sliding them in to the lock and opening the door after a moment. Andrew knew he should have been impatient for the door to open, but he wasn’t sure the way his stomach swooped when the lock clicked was excitement.

Roland’s apartment was dark, and he quickly led Andrew to his bedroom. He tuned on a bedside lamp and was kissing Andrew again as soon as the room was lit. Andre kissed back, trying to slip back in to the hazy mind space from before. He helped Roland take his shirt off and slapped his hands away when they reached for his. He wanted to make it a show for the other boy. He pushed Roland back on the bed roughly and took his own shirt off. He wasn’t sure it came across as sexy, but Roland looked happy about it.

They kissed again on the bed, and he ran out of excuses to stop Roland from grinding his hips against Andrew’s. Andrew found himself pinning Roland’s wandering hands still as he straddled the other boy, and he let Roland kiss him from where he was pinned. They stayed like that for a few more minutes before Roland made a needy sound.

“Come on, are we fucking or not?” He sighed, his erection suddenly obvious pressed against Andrew’s own. But Andrew stilled.

“Fucking?” He replied, feeling lost. It hadn’t occurred to him that this was supposed to be more than heavy petting.

“You’re such a tease,” Roland laughed breathily and Andrew hated the way the words sounded coming from his mouth, “you agreed to come to my apartment and got in bed with me and you’re still going to pretend like you didn’t expect us to have sex? Come on,” Roland said. And Andrew silently agreed. He had to have known somewhere in his brain that this was what the night was leading to, so why was he hesitating now? He was horny and they were both horny. It was just a casual fuck, so why was Andrew freaking out about it. This was just an easy fuck.

While Andrew tried to remind himself how stupid he was being, Roland got impatient. He worked his hands from Andrew’s slackened grip and reached for the packets of condoms on his bedside table. Andrew pouted on top of him and Roland shivered under the cold gaze. He reached for Andrew’s hips and flipped their positions, taking Andrew’s hesitance for inexperience.

Andrew felt his weight being shifted by broad hands. He felt his back hitting the bed and a body land on top of him. His mind went white with panic and he froze. Drake’s hands worked his pants off and were reaching for his boxers. He didn’t want this. He didn’t want to be touched like this. He stopped breathing, and let Drake force him where he wanted. It would be over faster if he let drake do what he wanted.

* * *

Roland felt Andrew go limp in his hands. He pulled off his pants and tried not to laugh at the notion of this rough and wild looking boy being such a pillow princess. His fingered were curled under Andrew’s boxer before her realized that the other boy was hyperventilating. His arousal turned to ice in his stomach.

“Hey, you okay?” He asked quietly, trying hard to remember the other boy’s name, “A-Andrew?” He asked. That sounded right. Andrew didn’t respond, his pupils wide and his breaths shallow and quick. Roland knew what a panic attack looked like. He moved off of Andrew quickly and propped the other boy up against the wall. He pulled a blanket over Andrew’s shoulders and talked to him, telling him to breath in a low and clam voice, counting to five again and again as Andrew slowly started to breathe again.

* * *

Andrew snapped back in to himself all at once, hearing a low voice next to him and blindly punching out towards it as soon as he had control of his limbs.

“Don’t fucking touch me you son of a bitch,” He shouted as he leveled another punch at the voice. He got in a few more solid hits before he realized he wasn’t punching Drake. It took several more seconds before he realized where he was. And that Roland was bleeding badly from his nose on the bed under Andrew.

“Shit,” he cursed when he put together the events of the last few minutes, and he quickly got off of the other boy. “You surprised me,” he said lamely, grabbing a few tissues and helping Roland staunch the blood flowing from his nose.

“You know some people just use handcuffs,” Roland said, trying not to make the mood any heavier. He realized he had been misinterpreting Andrew’s discomfort with physical touch. He just wished the blond had said something.

Andrew winced, looking away, “I didn’t think I’d react like that. I should go”.

Roland wanted to argue, but he didn’t know what to say. He needed to stop his bleeding nose anyways. He let the blond dress in silence and make it halfway out of the bedroom before he spoke.

“Hey, Andrew, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed you beyond what you were comfortable with. Don’t be a stranger,” he didn’t know what else to say. He thought he heard a muttered ‘sorry’ as his apartment door swung shut.

* * *

Andrew made it back to Eden’s without getting lost. He realized he had left his coat at the bar as soon as he left Roland’s apartment. He shivered and walked quickly, looking forward to the heat of the packed room. He made his way around to the front of the building before he realized it was quiet and closed. So much for meeting back up with the others. He was about to head to Nicky’s when a hunched figure caught his eye. The red scarf seemed out of place on the dark streets and after a moment he realized why.

Andrew nudged Aaron with his foot, watching his twin start form where he had been dozing on the street.

“What are you doing out here?” Andrew asked.

“Waiting for you. You look like shit,” Aaron responded quietly. He stood and shrugged off Andrew’s coat, which he had been wearing over his own. Andrew took it gratefully and gave his twin a long look as Aaron began walking in the direction of Nicky’s house.

“Why’d you wait for me? I could have been at Roland’s all night,” Andrew shook his head in disbelief, “I could have gone straight to Nicky’s. I nearly missed you sitting there.”

Aaron shrugged like it didn’t matter.

They walked back in complete silence, and Aaron unlocked the door with the spare key when they got to Nicky’s. The other two were asleep inside, curled up on one large bed in a room near the front of the house. Andrew and Aaron found another room with a twin bed, and Andrew gestured Aaron towards it. Aaron rolled his eyes and gestured back and the two got in to a silent match over who would take the bed. Andrew stormed out with Aaron hot on his heels and the two both stilled when they found a third bed in another nearby room. They looked at each other and Andrew shrugged and flopped down. Aaron flicked him off and left. Andrew curled under the sheets and felt a knot in his throat when he swallowed. He was glad Nicky had offered his nearby house. He was glad that Roland had stopped when he had freaked out. He was glad Aaron had waited for him in the cold in front of Eden’s Twilight for who knew how long. And if he cried like that, curled up under the sheets, silently sobbing for all the things that had happened to him in the last few years, well, he was glad no one was there to see it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to make this a found family fic eventually I swear to god.


	6. There Was Someone Crying

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew gets himself more ensnared in the mysterious secrets of Evermore Manor. What is in the mysterious walled off garden?And just who's screams is he hearing?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for blood and off screen graphic violence.

Andrew woke up when his door creaked open quietly. It was still early and for a minute he was disoriented, lying still as he tried to piece together the slight fog of the night before. Oh right, he had beat the shit out of that bartender and run off. That meant he was back at Nicky’s. It felt like something else important had happened but he let the feeling go when he was sure it wasn’t about anything sexual.

By the time he had made sense of the important things Nicky’s face was looming over him with a grin that was somehow both innocent and leering. Andrew punched it. Mostly light.

Nicky reeled back with an exaggerated howl, “oh my god Andrew you broke my face. I think I’m gonna bleed out. I come in here to wake you up and you ruin me for marriage. How will I find a hot rich guy to marry if I look like a bare knuckle boxer?”

“Okay, one, shut up. Two, also shut up,” Andrew croaked; his throat felt like sandpaper.

Nicky’s whining cut off and he laughed, “Well, glad to hear your night went well. We didn’t even hear you come in. Did you find Aaron on your way back or did he have to come back alone? We told him not to bother waiting.”

Aaron! That was the thing Andrew had felt like he was forgetting. He pushed past Nicky on his way out of the door, followed by Nicky’s call of, “we made pancakes”.

Aaron was sitting at the kitchen table calmly sipping coffee, with a towering stack of pancakes sitting in front of him. Kevin was holding his head low in the seat next to him. Once Andrew charged in to the kitchen and found his twin he stopped, not sure what he had even wanted to say.

“Morning,” Aaron told him. Vaguely Andrew heard Nicky follow behind him in to the kitchen.

“Hey,” Andrew replied, which was a far cry from the heartfelt _thank you_ he had intended. He shrugged and sat down opposite his twin. He poured himself a cup of coffee as well, adding half of the jar of sugar and a healthy amount of cream to the mix. Nicky resumed his post at the griddle and told the others to eat. Andrew did heartily, surprised by how hungry he was and how good the pancakes were. Aaron did the same, and even Kevin eventually lifted his face enough to shove pancakes in to his mouth slowly.

Once they ate Kevin seemed more himself, and he wasted no time turning his haughty attitude back on.

“Alright, we’ve wasted enough time this morning. We need to head out soon or I’m leaving you all here,” Kevin announced imperiously.

“Welcome back Kevin,” Aaron muttered sarcastically. Nicky distracted Kevin from the comment by asking him to help gather any belongings left at the house.

While the two other boys were out of the room Andrew snooped through it, grabbing a few non-perishable packets of trail mix and granola bars as he went. The last thing he snatched was a packet of cigarettes, which he had seen his mother smoking when she caught a rare moment alone on one of their house’s many balconies. He wondered what they tasted like.

Aaron watched him snoop, but didn’t say anything as he grabbed various items. When Kevin and Nicky returned with their jackets in their arms the four boys headed towards the door.

“Just so you guys know, the key is always in the same place. Feel free to drop by whenever you need it,” Nicky told them, replacing the key under the door mat.

* * *

The walk back across the moor was mostly quiet, aside from the occasional chirping from an orange breasted robin or bright red cardinal. The birds were easy to spot on the barren tree branches. On occasion Nicky would point to one and talk about it’s odd habit of hopping on one leg or how it had hatched so late all of its siblings were already starting to fly when it broke out of its shell. When he caught the other boy’s stares he flushed slightly, telling them he spent a lot of time on the moor, and that animals were easier to understand than backwards townspeople. It made a lot of sense to Andrew.

They made it back before noon, and Nicky quickly bid his goodbyes once they reached the gate leading in to the manor’s gardens. Apparently Wymack was particularly pissed at him for something involving turnips.

Andrew debated on simply going back to his room without another word to the others, but for some reason he was still thinking about Aaron waiting for him outside in the cold last night. He caught Aaron’s arm halfway back to the house.

“I need your help with something,” he said. Surprise and something like distrust flashed on Aaron’s face before he schooled it back to neutral. Kevin made a noise of impatience at the two.

“We need to get back,” Kevin interrupted.

“I’m still banned from the house anyways. _You_ need to get back,” Andrew replied without breaking eye contact with Aaron.

Kevin made a disgusted noise and turned away from the two haughtily. “You’re right. _I_ do,” He said, stomping off.

Aaron still looked unsure, but once Kevin was gone and Andrew still hadn’t tried to bite or stab him he relaxed slightly, nodding at Andrew. Andrew let go of his arm and starting walking towards the walled in garden, and Aaron followed.

* * *

“No,” Aaron said flatly.

“Yes. Otherwise I can’t get in,” Andrew replied, gesturing faintly to the blocked up plot.

“Okay, let me explain this to you in a way that makes sense to you. I am not letting you climb on to my shoulders to get over the wall here because one, you are heavy and your shoes are muddy and I don’t want you standing on my shoulders; and two, you are about to scale an eight foot wall in to a space with no visible exits by climbing on my shoulders, and then you will be stuck on the other side without my shoulders there to climb back out on you absolute fucking walnut.”

Andrew opened his mouth to argue, then closed it. After a minute he exploded, “well there’s no better way in, and I’m sure I can get out”. He tried again to wrestle Aaron in to a position where he could climb on his twin’s shoulders.

“Fine- fine! If you stop trying to break my shoulders I will lift you up. But unless we can see some obvious way out you are _not_ allowed to try to climb _over_ the walls,” Aaron said, finally kneeling.

Andrew stopped kicking his shins and climbed onto Aaron’s shoulders, counting it as a win.

As Aaron stood Andrew clung on to the ivy covering the walls to steady himself. Aaron’s arguing had killed half of Andrew’s excitement, and he was convinced that space truly was just a poorly planned empty square of dirt put in to make the gardens all fit the pre-planned dirt paths nicely. But when he got his head above the wall, he instead saw a wildly untamed yet perfectly planned garden. There were stones marking off dirt mounds that weeds had grown over, and there was tall grass growing thick and lush in the paths between. The whole space was crowded with brambly vines that grew over the grass and the weeds and covered the large oak tree and then covered itself again.

“What do you see?” Grunted Aaron’s voice from beneath him, “it’s just dirt isn’t it?”

But Andrew wasn’t listening to him. Instead, he was hurriedly hoisting himself up and catching a leg on the top of the wall and dropping himself over the other side all as Aaron’s grousing turned in to frantic shouting.

Once he was over the wall he dropped down, landing hard on one of the patches of dirt. He was dimly aware of thorns on the brambles digging in to his back, but the pain was barely noticeable as he slowly looked around the garden.

The place was truly overgrown, and it looked just as dead as everything else on the moor, but still Andre was enchanted. The tree had obscured his view from overhead, but he could now see the tidy rope swing hanging off of one of the overhead branches. Next to the swing was a painted iron table with swirling floral patterns sculpted out of the metal. A small matching bench was nearby, and a trellised pergola stood in the opposite corner, completely drowning in the thorny vines. Andrew wasn’t sure how long he stood there marveling at the garden before Aaron’s panicked voice reached him.

“-drew! Andrew!” Aaron called, sounding like he was about to cry.

“I’m fine,” Andrew called back, carefully stepping towards the table and chair under the tree.

“You fucking dick. What’s over there? Can you even get out? I’m not climbing in there to help,” Aaron replied. He sounded more angry than scared now. Maybe Andrew should have let him sweat a little longer.

“I don’t know,” Andrew reached the table, and saw the small metal key sitting on the surface. Why had someone left a key in a garden that had clearly been abandoned? “I think I can get out. There’s a key on the table over here,” Andrew said.

“Table? What table? What are you talking about?” Aaron said. Andrew ignored him, instead scanning the walls of the garden. The ivy hadn’t overtaken the inner walls here, and the carefully laid stone walls made the paths clear even in the garden’s overgrown state. It was only a minute before Andrew saw the door, buried behind a wall of thorns. He fought his way to it and yanked and pushed on the handle. When the door didn’t budge he had a moment of fear, wondering if the door really _had_ been bricked shut like he had earlier thought. Then he saw the keyhole on the handle, and he gingerly slipped the key from the table in to his. He almost laughed when the lock clicked open as he twisted the key. Why, and how, had the key to the garden been stored here when the door was clearly locked? He put the question away for another time as Andrew tugged on the door again. The door shifted slightly inwards but caught almost immediately. The grass and brambles had built up so much that it was almost impossible to yank the door open. Andrew tore at the grass, pulling out handfuls at a time as he worked the door open.

“Aaron, there’s a door on the left side from where we were, I can’t get it all the way open, but I’m working on it,” Andrew huffed as he tore another handful of grass out.

“I still don’t see it,” Aaron called from his side of the wall, wandering along the path.

“Try putting your hand on the wall and walking along it. The door is pretty small, keep your hand low,” Andrew tried, hoping the door really would leave him out.

“I still don’t-,” Aaron started to say, cutting off as he fell in to the partially opened door, finally pushing it in far enough for Andrew to be able to get out.

“Ow, fuck,” Aaron rubbed at his head, then slowly stopped as he took in the garden. Andrew glanced back, appreciating it as well.

“The key was in here, and there was a key hole as well. It actually looks like it can lock from either side. How weird,” Andrew said, inspecting the door, “I wonder if there used to be another entrance? Why couldn’t you see the door anyways?”

“The ivy is really thick on the other side, I still don’t think I could find it again without feeling along the wall,” Aaron answered, “this place was cool, but I don’t think anyone has taken care of it for a long time. All this stuff is probably dead.”

“Maybe. You care if I keep the key?” Andrew said, trying not to be offended at the idea of nothing growing in this garden again.

“Sure. I’d say I didn’t think you were the gardening type, but I still remember your little garden under the tree back at-“ Aaron cut off, his mood darkening at the reminder of Aunt Tilda. No one had ever directly accused Andrew of causing the accident that had killed her, but he knew that people talked. And he knew what had really happened. He couldn’t blame Aaron for being mad at him, even if he didn’t understand it.

The two left the garden quietly, and Andrew re-locked the door on the other side and slipped the key in to his pocket. Aaron was right, he really couldn’t see the door beneath the thick curtains of ivy. It was like it was some sort of secret that the old house had kept for decades, hidden away and saved from the dangerous people in the house. They walked back to the house, and Andrew was surprised to see how low the sun had already gotten. He needed to take a bath before dinner, and planned to head straight to his room to do so when he got back.

When they walked through the back doors of the house in to the kitchen they stopped short. The most awful of the screaming Andrew had heard since they moved in was echoing through the halls.

“He never starts this early,” Aaron whispered, face white.

Andrew’s feet were moving before he knew what he was doing. He dashed through the halls, following the hoarse screams. Something was wrong, the voice was never quite so loud, never quite so pained, and never so close by. It was coming from the study the boys had been in just the day before. Andrew burst in, taking stock of the room quickly.

For a moment he was confused. He didn’t see anyone he didn’t know, no mysterious third child. Just Kevin and Riko. Then his brain caught up to itself and he saw the wicked glint in Riko’s startled eyes looking at him. And he saw the tears streaming down Kevin’s face as he cried, and heard the hoarse screams. And he saw the bloodied letter opener still in Riko’s hand, and the paper weight discarded don the floor but similarly covered in viscera.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A cliffhanger! I almost kept writing, but I was interrupted by spaghetti and decided I don't love you guys as much as I love spaghetti. Therefore, you have to wait to see if Kevin is okay :'(
> 
> (also, Kevin is not the third kid. I promise Neil is in this AU. I also am impatient and want to meet him, but dumb Andrew won't get his butt in gear.)


	7. The Worst House Anyone Ever Lived In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew learns about the hidden boy and the violent tendencies of Riko, but with understanding comes an overwhelming sense of dread, and a million questions about the true nature of Evermore mansion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for graphic descriptions of Kevin's broken hand. 
> 
> Sorry this one is a little short. There is a pretty big scene break here and hopefully things can start to move a little faster soon?

Kevin was wailing and clutching his right arm close to his side. Blood dripped in a sluggish stream on to the carpet beneath the boy. His face was a litany of bruises, but his arm was by far the worst. Andrew sucker punched Riko before Kevin even noticed he was there. He kicked the boy in the ribs, then the head, knocking him out quickly with the viscous blows, then he turned to Kevin, not wasting time.

“Kevin. Kevin?” Andrew called out softly, trying to keep his voice level as he knelt by the other boy. Kevin just flinched heavily and sobbed harder.

Andrew looked up and saw Aaron standing in the doorway, horrified. “Aaron, go get Renee, tell her to bring all the medical supplies she can and come to my room. Then lock yourself in your room and don’t open the door for anyone but me or her, okay?” Aaron nodded and fled.

* * *

Getting Kevin to his room was more difficult that Andrew expected. The other boy couldn’t stand properly from his fear and pain, and Andrew also couldn’t pick him up for fear of hurting his arm.

The two struggled down the hall and up a flight of stairs. Andrew didn’t speak as he focused on getting them further away from Riko. After what felt like a year they were safely locked in Andrew’s room, and there was a knock seconds later.

“Andrew? Are you in there? It’s me, and I brought Abby, she’s a doctor,” Renee’s voice was tight with something Andrew hadn’t heard since he had been sent to the hospital for broken ribs. Drake had told his parents he had fallen out of a tree.

Andrew shook off the ghosts that tried to pull him away from the present and cracked the door open, “why is she here?” He asked Renee, taking in the nonthreatening way that Abby stood back from the door, like she was waiting for permission.

“She’s a nurse, she usually takes care of us when Riko goes on rampages,” she answered, and Andrew realized the tightness in her voice was panic. His mother had sounded that way after his ribs.

He nodded and opened the door enough for them to get through, locking and barring the door with a solid oak chair once they were inside. He pushed down the discomfort at being locked in a room with three strangers and watched Abby and Renee, who had already laid Kevin down on the bed and were cutting his shirt off.

Kevin’s torso was a litany of bruises. Abby took it in silently and began telling Renee which spots to treat first, “-and I’ll start on his arm,” she muttered quietly, looking grim. Andrew watched, standing straight backed in the corner and listening for threats outside. After a few minutes of terse silence Abby turned to him, “Andrew, I need you to get a bowl or bucket of water. Renee can block the door, but I need it as quickly as possible”.

Andrew nodded, a silent warning in his cold gaze, _fix him_. Abby met his ice look with a blazing once, _I will_. He slipped out of the room after a moment, waiting to hear the chair scrape back in to place before he dashed down the hallway. He ran quickly and silently down the hall, wishing he were faster. His steps were near silent, as he had already memorized the spots that groaned under his weight. The kitchen was blessedly empty and he filled a bucket form the closet quickly, not sure how much water Abby needed. He rushed back, nearly tripping as he climbed the stairs. When he made it back he was holding gasping breaths down, and she knocked on the door swiftly three times, then gasped out a greeting when Renee asked who it was. She let him in and he put the bucket down, moving back to a spot where he could see everyone in the room and checking on Kevin. He was pale, and had broken out on a sweat, but the worst of his bruising had already been covered in a thick paste that would help soothe the pain.

Abby was grim and the room was deathly quiet as Kevin’s arm was cleaned. Thankfully Kevin himself had passed out at some point. Andrew watched as handfuls of cloth were stained with blood and rinsed again and again as Abby wiped at his arm. Even without any medical knowledge Andrew could tell that his right hand was shattered; he kept catching glimpses of bone jutting from the mangled mess.

“He needs a doctor,” Andrew spoke after a few minutes of seemingly ineffectual treatment.

“He can’t,” Renee replied, not turning from where she was helping hold Kevin’s arm up, “Tetsuji won’t let traditional doctors in to the mansion, especially not to treat people who are victims of Riko’s rage. Not even when Nath-“ Renee cut off her bitter tirade. Abby had actually looked up from Kevin’s arm for a moment to mutter a warning to her.

Kevin was lying on his bed injured. He was unlikely to ever be able to use his right hand again, and they were still implying that someone had had it worse than this? Andrew couldn’t bear the ice that spread in his gut when he thought about there being some other person in the house who was an even greater victim of Riko than Kevin.

The room got quiet again, and stayed silent for the nearly four hours that it took Abby to clean, reassemble, and stitch Kevin’s hand shut. When Kevin’s arm was neatly wrapped in a cast and the medical tools were set aside, Abby finally leaned back and breathed deeply, flapping her sweat soaked shirt.

“Andrew,” she said after a few moments, “I owe you my thanks. If Riko had gone any further than this, I may not have been able to do anything for his arm. I’m going to entrust Kevin to you. He’s more important to me than I can say, and you risked Riko’s anger to help him today”. Andrew wondered for a moment if Abby was crying, but wrote it off as sweat. He didn’t really understand the grave tone of her voice. He was tired of not knowing anything.

“So you owe me,” He said, not letting it be a question. Abby looked at him, surprised by the authority in his voice. She nodded slowly.

“Then tell me who this third kid is,” He said after a moment. He wanted to ask why Kevin was so important to her. He wanted to ask about why someone as young as Renee lived and worked at the house, or why there was a sealed up garden hidden on the grounds. He had a million questions about Evermore, but the biggest mystery was the third kid.

Abby looked unsure, opening her mouth several times and floundering before she closed it again. Andrew waited. “Andrew, I don’t…” Anny tried to start again, but Renee stopped her with a light touch on her arm.

“Abby, it’s okay. He deserves to know. He stood up to Riko today; he’s the only one here who isn’t afraid of him,” she said softly, and the uncertainty settled in Abby’s eyes.

“His name is Nathaniel Wesninski. None of us know why or how he ended up in the care of the Moriyamas, but he acts as a sort of whipping boy for Riko to abuse. He’s seen more horror than anyone, but there’s nothing any of us can do to help him except try to patch him up after Riko finishes with him.” Abby looked even more tired than she had after finishing Kevin’s surgery, “you can’t help him Andrew,” she added softly after a moment, finally meeting Andrew’s eyes. He shrugged.

“I was just curious. I’m not interested in Riko’s broken toys,” Andrew could imagine what this Nathaniel must look like if Kevin’s injured paled in comparison.

“Actually, that’s part of the reason there’s a taboo on talking about him,” Renee chimed in now, “apparently he won’t break. Riko has had him for years now, and you’ve heard the screaming by now, but he won’t break. No one knows why he keeps talking back, but Riko’s been on edge because of it”.

Andrew took a few seconds to get his surprise under control. He wasn’t sure if he’d fully managed to keep it from showing on his face. He glanced between Abby and Renee’s serious and grim faces and wanted to scream. How could anyone leave someone who was clinging to sanity so desperately alone in a place like this? He wanted to beat the shit out of Riko, but knew now that it would get reflected on to Nathaniel later. How much had he inadvertently hurt him over the weeks he’d been here?

He didn’t know what to do or say. He wanted to storm each room, searching for Nathaniel, but Kevin was lying on his bed with a shattered right hand, and Andrew knew he couldn’t protect two people from Riko at once. He knew that Nathaniel would be hurt for what Andrew himself had done to Riko tonight. Silently, he swore that he’d look for Nathaniel as soon as Kevin was back on his feet.

“Get out,” he told Renee and Abby. He saw the guilt on their faces as they emptied the room, Abby leaving a bottle of pain for Kevin. Once they left Andrew slumped on the chair that Abby had pulled to the bedside. He fought back the feeling of helplessness that was both familiar and alien to him. He didn’t know that protecting other people was this hard.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think there are about two more chapters before Neil get's to finally be in the story (omg this is taking forever). I may even squish that down to one because I am so impatient at this point!
> 
> At least Andrew knows he's there, and alive... finally


	8. The Crying Boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew is saddled with a bed ridden Kevin and spends much of his day debating the pros and cons of punching him to shut him up. Also, people keep coming to his room uninvited and this does not help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully this chapter isn't too bad, I really had to push through the first half of it to get to where I wanted to be, but it looks like I can FINALLY start to get to the good stuff from here on out.

For what felt like the hundredth time that day Andrew resisted the urge to punch Kevin Day in the face. The other boy had woken up a moaning mess and had continued on with his misery since. He was still sequestered on Andrew’s bed, and the number of people coming in and out of his room made Andrew’s skin itch.

Abby, Renee, and Aaron had all come to the room for breakfast that morning, and the unusual silence from the Moriyama’s at that act had even Renee glancing at the door with concern.

“Well it’s not like they don’t know where he is,” Aaron remarked dryly as Kevin wailed again, throwing himself back on the bed in his tantrum.

Abby scolded him lightly, but Renee gave a weak laugh, “I guess they would be here already if they were going to come”.

The group fell back in to silence again, broken regularly by Kevin’s moans and whimpers. Renee and Abby made a few halfhearted attempts at conversation, but nothing worked to ease the tension in the room. When they finished eating the girls left, and Andrew was quietly glad that the room had become less crowded. He expected Aaron to leave after the others, but he dragged the second chair in the room to the corner opposite Andrew and made himself comfortable, splitting his attention between the window and the door.

Andrew kept his eyes resolutely on the door, but his mind wandered back to the garden they had found the day before. It felt like it had been a lifetime since he had found the hidden doorway.

An hour or so had passed since breakfast, and Kevin had fallen in to a fitful sleep. Aaron was currently gazing out the window at a drizzling rain that had started up outside. He looked like he wanted to say something, but Andrew wasn’t about to encourage him to ask questions that would tear open barely scabbed wounds in both of them.

They stayed quiet until lunch, when Renee came by with soup and sandwiches. They ate together again, and Renee left soup with them for Kevin when he woke up. Aaron took on the task of trying to convince Kevin to eat, and the rain outside thickened in to a cold downpour that made the evening prematurely dark.

At dinner Abby came back again, this time without Renee. She looked hesitant and nervous, opening the door more slowly than usual. Andrew picked up on it immediately. He was out of his chair in seconds, blocking her way in to the room and lodging the door half-shut with his foot. Aaron was alert just after him, and he moved himself between the door and Kevin.

Abby made a surprised noise and stepped away from Andrew’s sudden proximity. When she stepped back, Andrew saw the man standing behind her, and he slammed the door shut, hoping Abby wouldn’t be blamed when he refused to let a Moriyama in to his room.

“Andrew?” Abby called, hesitantly knocking on the door, “it’s okay. You can open the door,” Andrew and Aaron met each other’s eyes, confusion matching in their stares.

“And let one of _them_ in here with Kevin? Thanks but no fucking way,” Andrew snarled after a minute, and a low laugh rang out in the hall. Andrew’s stomach curled, _the fucker was laughing at him?_

“Oh,” Abby sounded relieved, “No, Andrew, I’m not here with the Master, it’s just David,” she said, like Andrew was supposed to recognize the name. He opened his mouth to say as much when a second voice spoke.

“Pretty brave for a friend of the city brat. I didn’t think you’d actually be able to protect Kevin with that tiny body of yours,” Wymack said from the other side of the door, and Andrew groaned. Aaron make a quiet noise of confusion, then a louder noise of protest when Andrew turned and slowly opened the door, making sure that it really was just those two.

The action woke Kevin up, and he immediately began to complain again. God Andrew wanted to punch him. When Wymack stepped through the door though, Kevin shut up faster than Andrew had even seen him stop talking before, and his expression grew glassy and vulnerable as he looked between the two adults.

Andrew moved to join Aaron in standing between the bedridden boy and the others, and crossed his arms, “well? The hell is the gardener doing here?”

Wymack shuffled and coughed in to his hand, and Abby suddenly looked nervous again, “Ah, actually, we came to ask Kevin if, well, that is- we know he can’t stay here for the full length of his recovery, so, we, uh, well, we wanted to know if he wanted to stay with David and I in our apartment. It’s just for workers, so it’s nothing special, and it’s still on the grounds, but it is a little further from the main family, and I’d be closer, so I could give him more medical attention and we could-“ Abby continued rambling, nervousness making her usually blunt attitude disappear.

Andrew raised an eyebrow as they talked and turned to Kevin. The arrangement would fix the claustrophobia that had been cloying at him all day, but the risk that came with dumping Kevin on near-strangers outweighed the benefits. To his surprise, Kevin looked somehow excited. He nodded before Abby could finish her awkward explanation, and Andrew turned back to them.

“Kevin says yes, so get out of my room.” Andrew tells them bluntly.

“Oh, good,” Abby and Wymack both look a mixture of relieved and nervous. “Well, actually, it would make more sense to have him sleep here one more night,” Abby clarified, “the sun has already set and it’s still raining. We can take him back to the house with us after breakfast tomorrow”.

Kevin looked pathetically deflated, and Andrew wanted to groan in frustration, but they both nodded. Aaron was still busy being bewildered by Wymack’s sudden appearance.

“Well, then we should be going if everything has been sorted out. Aaron, we can walk you back to your room.” Abby said, back to business.

When the room was just Kevin and him again Andrew let out a slow breath he hadn’t known he had been holding.

“Thank you,” Kevin said quietly behind him. Andrew wanted to tell him that he wouldn’t let Riko hurt him anymore. He wanted to ask about the abuse, and share his stories about Aaron, and share his stories about himself. He wanted to ask about the alcohol and drugs and the third boy, Nathaniel. Instead he stayed silent, unwilling and unable to put bear that much of himself to anyone. His hand idly traced one of the many scars under the sleeve of his shirt as he took up watch in the armchair in the corner of the room.

* * *

It was pitch dark outside when Andrew was woken from his doze. Kevin was having some sort of nightmare. He screamed like a banshee, sweat rolling off his face and his muscles spasming. Andrew was out of the chair before he could think and he stood over Kevin, unsure what to do. He floundered, debating waking Kevin to the real pain or letting him fight with his demons in his sleep. What felt like hours passed before he decided, and he shook Kevin heavily on the shoulder. It took several tries to rouse the injured boy, and as Kevin woke he lashed out wildly. His arms hit against Andrew’s chest, not strong enough to even bruise him, but Kevin recoiled, screaming and clutching his injured hand.

“Kevin, Kevin shut up. You’re fine,” Andrew said, trying to pull him out of his nightmare. As recognition lit In Kevin’s eyes, Andrew heard the lock on the door clicking a minute too late. Of course the Moriyama’s would have the master keys. He turned, his body already coiling to throw himself against the door, but Riko was faster. He was through the door and launching himself at Andrew before Andrew had even fully processed the open door. _Since when was Riko so fast?_ Andrew thought as he was thrown against the far wall. He launched a blind punch that connected with Riko’s stomach, and was rewarded with a wet cough. The two fought in the dark, both blindly punching and biting each other. Andrew was nearly overwhelmed by Riko’s speed and ferocity several times. The boy fought like a wild animal, not some spoiled brat who had never had anyone go against him. Andrew received a particularly vicious bite on his arm and growled, managing to push the Moriyama away for a minute.

“Stop!” Kevin cried. Andrew ignored him, only vaguely aware that the injured boy had managed to stand and push the door shut. There was no way shouting would stop Riko, but it meant that Tetsuji wouldn’t be able to provide back up as quickly. Andrew was ready to throw himself at Riko again when Kevin pushed himself between the two.

“Get away from him,” Andrew shouted. Why was Kevin protecting Riko? Andrew was ready to face the consequences of fighting with the young lord.

“Get away from me,” Another voice echoed as Andrew spoke, and Andrew realized that the voice was clearly not Riko’s, but lower and raspier.

Andrew straightened, trying for the first time to get a better look at his attacker. The moon filtered through a fast-moving cloud outside, and Andrew caught a glimpse of dark hair that caught the moonlight and reflected it like silver, and eyes like ice that pieced right through him.

The other boy clearly hadn’t realized that the fight was over, and he fought against Kevin’s one arm that held him back. In his struggle his bumped against Kevin’s bad hand, only stilling when Kevin winced and hissed in pain.

“Kevin?” He asked, his eyes finally flashing away from Andrew and breaking the hold they had on him.

Andrew shook himself, and stepped closer to the other boys. The attacker backed up, clearly debating whether to resume the fight or try to help Kevin.

“Lay down you idiot,” Andrew addressed Kevin, ignoring the other boy. He hauled Kevin back to the bed and sat him down, noticing how white his face had become from the exertion. “You’re an idiot. I’m getting more medicine,” He said, turning to the side table where the pain killers were.

“Who is he?” While Andrew mixed the bitter powder in to a glass of water he heard the attacker murmur to Kevin. Odd, Andrew hadn’t even heard him move closer.

“It’s fine, he’s not on their side Neil,” Kevin bit back, having more trouble regulating his voice through the pain.

“Stop making him talk,” Andrew interrupted, turning back to Kevin with the drink. The attacker jumped away as he approached and watched him give Kevin the medicine with eyes that threatened murder.

Andrew leaned back once Kevin had drank the medicine. He leveled a long stare toward the attacker. He was skinny, and Andrew was surprised that someone nearly as short as him and half as muscular could have given him so much trouble in a fight. He realize that the other boy was swaying slightly, and wondered about it before he realized that what he had assumed was sweat in the fight looked too dark against his pale skin. After a moment Andrew realized it was blood. He looked over the boy’s body, finding a few suspicious patched on his clothes, but zeroing in on his hands, or more accurately his wrists. He couldn’t tell in the dark, but to Andrew it looked like the attacker’s wrists were raw and bloody, like he had pulled his hands out of rope or handcuffs.

A thousand questions fought their way to the front of his mind, and Andrew settled on, “I’ll give you five minutes for that medicine to kick in before you’re going to tell me who the fuck Neil is and why he just tried to kill me,” Andrew then turned to his attacker and added, “you’re going to let me wrap your wrists with something to stop the bleeding.” Neil nodded slowly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NEIL!
> 
> As an aside, I seriously debated having Neil scale the outside of the manor and breaking in through the window because Andrew blocked the door with a chair. I ended up not using it, but I am still laughing at the mental image of a rain soaked Neil climbing on to the bed at 3am. 
> 
> (I start my new job next week so updates may get wonky for awhile, but I will try to keep them regular?)


	9. "I'm Fine," Said Neil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Andrew gets the barest explanation to ever be explained. And he definitely pays attention to it and not the way Neil's eyes catch the light and reflect it back like diamonds because he's interested in the mystery of the house and definitely not some mysterious boy who's hair looks like silver at night and curls like clouds around his head dammit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T/W for cannon typical violence.

The rain outside beat against the window pane heavily. It was the only sound in the otherwise quiet room. Neil and Andrew sat on the floor, facing each other from opposite ends of the bed. Neil had sat with his arms outstretched and allowed Andrew to wrap bandages around Neil’s ruined wrists. The whole time they worked in silence, and Neil didn’t so much as wince at the pain as the wounds were handled or when Andrew had to reset his dislocated thumbs. The minute he had finished Neil had moved away again. Kevin laid on the bed the whole time, glancing between Neil by his head and Andrew by his feet.

Kevin was the first one to break the tense silence. “Neil, how did you get here?”

Andrew had thought the question was too vague (he walked in through the front door because Kevin was too loud to be a secret for more than two days), but Neil didn’t seem to think the question was strange.

“I heard you shouting,” Neil started, and at least Kevin had the decency to look chagrined, “I heard it before too, but I wasn’t well enough to move. I hoped Riko would just forget about you and come for me, but I haven’t seen him since. When I heard you today I thought he had finally moved on to you. I panicked and slipped the cuffs, and followed your voice. I actually checked all of the doors on this hall.”

Kevin was looking at him like he had snuck out past curfew, but Andrew was just waiting for the boy in front of him to grow two heads. He had barely been able to follow along to the talk of Riko and handcuffs and all of it had just given Andrew more questions. Neil must have caught something in his expression (odd, his poker face was usually better than that), because he clarified for Andrew’s sake, “oh, I picked the locks for each of the doors, including this one. I don’t have a master key but I’m pretty quick at lock picking,” and damn if that didn’t answer a single one of the questions Andrew had, but it did raise two more.

Andrew almost, _almost_ managed to convince himself to just let the whole mess pass him by. But the introduction of _another_ mysterious kid no one had talked about, and the circumstances that had gotten them in to the same room together, we’re _too _weird.

“-fine, thanks for asking though,” Neil was answering some question Kevin had asked when Andrew finally boiled over.

“Nope. No. Fucking- no. Stop talking. Shut up. Don’t look at me like _I’m_ the weird one right now. _You_,” He indicated Neil, “are going to tell me who the fuck you are, why you’re here, why you were in handcuffs until an hour ago, and who this Nathaniel kid everyone keeps avoiding my questions on is. And Kevin, _you_, will not interrupt or speak another word until he’s done or I swear to god I’ll break your other arm.” Andrew felt out of breath from the outburst. He wasn’t sure he had ever said so much at once, but it had achieved the desired effect of shutting both boys up for all of ten seconds. The effect was ruined when Neil laughed. The fucker.

“Wow, where do you keep finding us weirdos Kevin?” He said, settling himself more comfortably against the wall at the head of the bed, “well at least one of those questions is actually easy to answer, I’m Nathaniel. I go by Neil,” Neil said like he wasn’t the best kept secret in the house.

Andrew resisted the urge to punch a wall. Or Kevin. Barely.

Neil continued then, and after a glance and a nod from Kevin it seemed like he didn’t hold back as he explained things from the beginning. He had been born in to a mob family, his father was a powerful gang leader who had buckled under the superior power of the Moriyamas when the Yakuza had started moving near his territory. Nathan, Neil’s father, had originally tried to stand against the Moriyamas, so when he was finally overpowered, he needed to show his submission to the family. He had given up his son, Neil, who was only seven at the time, as a show of good faith. The Moriyamas had given him to the secondary household’s son, Riko. This had been a stinging insult to everyone but the main branch, both Nathaniel, who had given up his only heir only to have him sent to be some boy’s plaything, but to Riko and Tetsuji as well, who were given an unwelcome reminder that they were expected to take the main family’s trash and treat like it was a gift.

The branches and dynamics confused Andrew, but as soon as he realized that all of this was mafia related things finally started to make sense.

Riko had treated Neil like the ugly reminder of his secondary status that he was, and had used him as a whipping boy ever since. At first Neil had fought back, and he had even escaped a few times, but each time Riko hurt someone else. Kevin, Nicky, and Jean.

Andrew hadn’t heard of Jean before, but the look on Kevin’s face when he was mentioned told him not to ask.

Neil admitted that yes, he was almost definitely the screams that Andrew had heard in the corridor before, but that he was fine now, and that he was just worried about Kevin.

When Neil finished speaking he looked pale and tired in the near-dark. Andrew knew that there were things he still didn’t understand, and silently promised to figure out just what the full story of this household was. But for the night, he nodded tiredly, he was willing to let things be brief tonight. Neil nodded back, and was halfway to the door before Andrew realized he was standing (god he was fast).

“Sit down,” Andrew said, and Neil turned to look back at him.

“I have to get back or Riko will…” Neil trailed off as Andrew stood.

“Riko will what? Kevin's as safe as he’s ever been and he’s getting out of the mansion tomorrow, and my brother and I are both perfectly capable of protecting ourselves,” (and oh, Andrew liked how wide Neil’s eyes got when he was surprised. Also, were they really sea glass blue, or was that just the light of the night?) “So why the hell do you need to get back?”

Neil spend another few seconds looking dumbfounded (god he looked so <strike>cute</strike> stupid with his mouth hanging open like that) before he collected himself “listen, I get that you think you’ll be fine, but you don’t know what he’s like. I can’t just-“

Andrew cut him off again to argue more, then Neil cut him off, then Andrew cut him off, then Neil tried to make a mad dash for the door while Andrew was mid-rant.

Andrew reacted to the sudden movement before his brain caught up, and he caught Neil in the stomach with a heavy handed punch. Neil doubled over coughing, and Andrew tried not to smirk too hard.

Locking Neil in the bathroom while he was still winded wasn’t impossible, but it was still impressively difficult considering his size and current status as ‘sucker punched’. Andrew jammed the chair under the knob and tuned an impassive face to Kevin’s horrified one as Neil began beating against the door and cursing at him in no less than three different languages.

“Don’t worry, it’s all under control,” he assured Kevin.

From the other side of the door Neil said something very rude about Andrew’s dick in German.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is short. I am not a being made to wake up early and it has taken a surprising amount out of me. Also please excuse the copious spelling errors I am sure are in this chapter.


	10. The Fox's Den

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kevin leaves and Andrew is forced to look at Neil's face. And his dumb smile. And the stupid way he tilts his head and his hair falls in his face a little. And the flat of his tummy when he stretches. And it's definitely annoying and Andrew really hates it and wishes he didn't have to look at all those things. But sometimes sacrifices must be made for the grater good.
> 
> And this is only day one of the boys living together.

Morning came early to the moor. The sun broke through the last of the rain clouds before it had finished rising above the horizon. The raindrops still sparkling on the windows caught the light and refracted it in to a thousand tiny rainbows. The beauty of the moment was lost on the three exhausted boys. Kevin was asleep, in the way that hibernating bears and dead things sleep. Andrew was almost ready to join him, but he forced himself to stay vigilant on the bathroom door he had locked Neil behind. Neil was presumably busy trying to melt the door by glaring because he had gone suspiciously quiet a few hours ago.

When the sun finished rising and began turning the rain in to heavy fog, Kevin began to stir. Andrew sighed and slipped away from the door, checking the sturdiness of the chair-turned-lock before he shook Kevin awake. Kevin groaned and tried to turn away from him, but ended up on his hurt arm and ended up unhappily but fully awake.

“Andrew, why did you wake me up?” Kevin rubbed his face with his good hand, then caught sight of the barred bathroom door, “oh my god, have you not let him out? Let him out you asshole.”

“No. And we’re going to breakfast. Get ready,” Andrew replied, already changing out of his pajamas.

“Wait what? Are you crazy? I can’t go down there Riko will kill me,” Kevin balked.

Andrew let a maniac grin slip on to his face as he laughed, “Like Riko could take me”. And that was the end of that argument.

It took another fifteen minutes to force a still balking Kevin down the hall way and in front of the dining room, and Andrew was almost sure he’d bolt when Andrew let go of his shirt collar to throw the doors open dramatically. To his credit, Kevin stayed where he was, and even followed Andrew in to the room.

Tetsuji and Aaron were both frozen mid bite with surprised faces. Riko looked like someone had punched him in the stomach (which Andrew _had_ done) and spat in his breakfast (an idea for later). Andrew made his way to the table and sat directly beside Riko with no hesitation. Kevin sat across from him and stared in to his lap in silence.

The room was suffocatingly silent, but plates of food were placed in front of the two boys quickly, and Aaron mechanically forced himself to continue eating as Andrew and Kevin dug in. Tetsuji continued as well after a moment with an amount of nonchalance that Andrew begrudgingly respected. Riko didn’t recover, and instead sat there with his mouth hanging open for the duration of breakfast. God it was fun messing with him

When they were nearly done Andrew broke the silence. “Oh, I’ll need an extra plate of food to take up to my room,” He said, turning to address one of the maids in the room.

Riko looked like he would turn purple from the disrespect of not having the request directed at the head of the family. Tetsuji kept calm, placing his knife and fork down deliberately before he addressed Andrew, “Why do you need more food. Do we not feed you enough here? I believe we have been _quite_ lenient in light of your… disposition.”

They were words meant to cut deeply, but Andrew almost laughed at them. Like such a concealed jab at him could even phase him. He’d heard worse.

“I found a fox last night. It had its paw caught in a trap, so I’m keeping it in my bathroom. I want to feed it something before it starves,” Andrew answered. He caught Riko’s confused expression out of the corner of his eye. So they hadn’t discovered that Neil was gone yet, good.

“Very well,” Tetsuji conceded, suspicion swimming in his eyes. They were both fun to fuck with.

* * *

Andrew carried his plate of food with him as he walked with Kevin and Aaron to gather a few of Kevin’s belongings and walk him to the entrance. Abby and Wymack were both waiting when the boys got there, and Andrew felt his grip on the plate tighten from an emption he didn’t understand when Abby started inspecting Kevin for further damages before hugging him. No one was willing to risk a curious Moriyama showing up, so the goodbyes were kept brief. It wasn’t like they were never going to see each other again. 

Andrew and Aaron walked back inside, alone together again, and neither had much to say. Aaron kept glancing at his plate of food, but he knew better than to expect Andrew to be forthcoming with whatever was happening. Andrew wished he could tell his twin, but the fewer people that knew about Neil the better.

They split up in the hallway, before Aaron’s room, and Andrew took a deep breath before he went in to his own. And stopped short. Because there was someone sitting on his bed. Someone who he had quite securely locked in his own bathroom last night. And for some inexplicable reason he actually thought Neil’s shit eating grin was cute.

Instead of being a Riko about it, Andrew simply handed him the plate of now cold food, and unbarred his bathroom door. (Had Neil re-blocked it when he had broken out? That didn’t make any sense. Had he not used the door to get out? Was there some other entrance?)

Neil hastily dug in to the food with his hands, eating like he hadn’t in weeks. Who knew, maybe he hadn’t.

“Gross,” Andrew told him. Neil only stopped for a moment to grin at him, a strip of bacon hanging from his mouth.

Andrew casually inspected the interior of the bathroom, trying to look like he wasn’t searching for a hidden passageway behind the medicine cabinet. Neil had finished the plate and come up behind him, moving around him easily in the small space to wash his hands. Andrew ignored him, continuing his investigation of the walls.

“Your window was unlocked,” Neil said, and Andrew realized he had been watching him for a few long moments. He was so quiet.

“Yea, I’m on the third floor, so what?” Andrew wasn’t sure why Neil was addressing his lack of window security as their first conversation topic.

“That’s how I got in. You were curious, right?” Neil said, as if he had pointed out a door that Andrew had left open when he left.

Andrew stepped out of the room to look at his own window, and then back in to the room to squint suspiciously at the small, high window in the bathroom that, now that Neil had pointed it out, was cracked open slightly. Andrew wasn’t even sure that he would be able to wiggle out of it, much less climb to the other window and get inside. What if it had been locked?

Neil shrugged, “If it had been locked I would have climbed back through the bathroom, or maybe tried another room,” he said. Andrew wondered if Neil could read minds.

* * *

The boys moved around each other like two large cats in the room that morning. They rarely spoke, mostly relying on body language to decide where the other could be. Neil never tried to touch Andrew or push him out of his own space, instead moving around him in a natural way. Andrew had dreaded having someone in his room for another minute, but, unlike Kevin, Neil would tuck up his legs when Andrew walked by, and he actually thanked him for the sandwiches that Andrew brought back to the room for lunch. It was weird, but almost… nice.

“You need clothes,” Andrew told him.

“I have clothes,” Neil replied, having the audacity to look insulted.

Andrew didn’t respond, instead shoving some of his own clothes at Neil’s head.

“You’re too short,” Neil complained.

“I’ll kill you”.

Neil put on the short and pants and, huh, there was a slight gap between where the shirt ended and the pants started. Too bad those were the only clothes he had.

* * *

Night came surprisingly quick that day. Neil shot a few suspicious looks at Andrew’s bed, but didn’t say anything. As the lighting in the room added Andrew sighed and stood up.

“You’re not staying in my bed,” He told Neil. He wanted to sleep in his own bed now that Kevin was gone.

“That’s fine,” Neil said with a scowl, and he scooted deeper in to his own seat, “but I can’t leave either, or Riko will kill me”.

Andrew sighed. Neil had a point. He’s be easier to watch over if he was close to Andrew. But he couldn’t sleep in the armchair for the foreseeable future; just one night had given Andrew a sore neck. He motioned to Neil as he left the room. The other boy followed, looking suspiciously around the hall like Riko might be a porcelain vase in disguise.

The bedroom next to his had a twin sized bed, and sheets that smelled like old house and lavender. Andrew nodded at it, and grabbed the headboard. Neil stared at him like he had grown two heads when Andrew started pulling the bed out of the room, but after a moment he moved to help. Thank god he wasn’t slow in the uptake. Kevin would still be staring at him in shock.

With a lot of scraping, pushing, and wiggling, they managed to get the bed out of one room and in to Andrew’s. They had gotten stuck on Andrew’s doorframe for a while, and Neil had ended up falling on the floor as the frame had finally squeezed inside. It was dumb and Neil looked ridiculous, and definitely not cute at all in his too-short shirt, with his laughter that sounded like bells.

“I could have slept in the guest room,” Neil told him once they had moved most of the furniture in the room and pushed the second bed against the wall opposite the first.

“I know,” Andrew said, climbing in to his own bed with a yawn.

Andrew was already help asleep when he heard Neil murmur his reply, “Thanks”. And Andrew was glad that the room was dark enough to hide the smile that quirked his lips upward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forced in the window climbing scene I wanted before. This chapter felt short even though it's of average length? Not much happens.... 
> 
> Sorry this is a day late I thought yesterday was Monday~

**Author's Note:**

> I'm basing my chapter titles on The Secret Garden's. Isn't that such a dark title? Then again, I darkened up the dark start to the original story so I hope I've earned it. Don't worry, thing's Technically start getting better from here (but not yet really)
> 
> If you notice a missing tag, PLEASE let me know so I can add it!


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